HOLIDAY RECIPES FOR NATIONAL COOKIE DAY

Festive cookie recipes that can be enjoyed all season!

We’re making our way through our holiday checklist! Next up on our to-do list is...baking cookies! It’s no surprise that National Cookie Day falls in the midst of our favorite festive season. Cookies are great for starting traditions, gifting, and showing your loved ones you care with a delicious treat. To help us celebrate, our squad is here to share their favorite cookie recipes! Our Southern Farmhouse Classic Recipe Organizer is perfect to write down these recipes.

Speculaas Cookies 

By: Amy Bloem | @amyshappyplans

Ready to try a new cookie recipe during the holiday season? This is a traditional Dutch recipe for spiced cookies. Every year during the month of December, the speculaas cookies are often made as a popular treat during the Holidays. In The Netherlands, these cookies are made and eaten during Sinterklaas, a traditional Dutch holiday. These cookies are also very popular in Belgium and Germany.

Ingredients:

• 125g Butter
• 225g Brown sugar
• 45mL Buttermilk
• 400g Flour
• ½ Tsp Salt
• ½ Lemon, zest
• 3 ½ Tbsp Speculaas spice mix
• 1 ½ Tsp Baking soda

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add all the ingredients and mix everything together.
2. The dough will be hard to knead. Try to make a big ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest in the fridge overnight.
3. Take the dough out of the fridge one hour before using.
4. Knead the dough, roll it out and cut out shapes using your favorite cookie cutters.
5. Preheat oven to 340F. Bake the cookies for 14 – 18 minutes.
6. Let them cool down and enjoy.

Try dipping them in  hot cocoa for a sweet finish!

 

Molasses Christmas Cookies

By: Hannah | @hanzplans

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup softened butter
• 1 Cup light brown sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 Cup molasses
• 2 1/4 Cup of flour
• 2 Tsp baking soda
• 1/4 Tsp salt
• 1/2 Tsp cloves
• 1 Tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tsp ginger 

Directions:

1. Mix first four ingredients together in a bowl
2. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix until dough forms 
3. Chill for 30-60 minutes
4. Once chilled, roll dough into balls then roll into sugar
5. Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes and enjoy!

Mexican Buñuelos

By: Anabel | @thecurvyplanner

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Egg
• Vegetable Oil
• 2 Cups of Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• ⅓ Cup of Cinnamon (Cinnamon sugar mix)
• Pinch of Salt
• Water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix 4 cups flour, a pinch of salt, 1 cup of sugar, and 2 tbsp of ground cinnamon.
2. Add 1 egg to the center of the mixed ingredients.
3. Mix everything together until the mixture looks like a coarse flour meal.
4. Slowly add water a tbsp at a time, mix and knead until dough is soft (will take about 7 minutes).
5. Cover dough with a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.
6. Prep work area: Rolling pin, large dish & paper towels on counter top, add oil to frying pan (do not turn heat on).
7. Make golf ball size balls with dough.
8. Roll out each ball to shape a circle and lay out to rest. 
9. Stretch each buñuelo using both hands as thin as possible (almost transparent).
10. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 1/3 cup of ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
11. Fry buñuelos in hot oil until golden and crispy for a few seconds.
12. Place buñuelo on a plate.
13. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar while buñuelos are warm to both sides. 

Pairs perfectly with hot chocolate or a warm coffee.

ENJOY!

Peppermint White Chocolate Pudding Cookies

By: Minah | @baxterthebusybee

Ingredients: 

• 1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 Cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
• 1 Large egg 
• 1/2 Tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 Cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 Box of instant white chocolate pudding mix
• 1 Tsp baking soda
• 1 Cup of white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare your baking sheets (You can use one or two, I used one).
2. Crush peppermint candy. There is no specific way of doing this. I used my blender. 
3. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl mix flour, dry pudding mix, baking soda, salt, crushed peppermint candy and white chocolate chips.
5. Add the dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time, to the wet ingredients in the mixer until they are combined.
6. Shape the dough into rounds and place them on your prepared making sheet and bake between 325-350, depending on your oven, for 11 minutes.

And Voilà, yummy cookies!

 

Sugar Cookies

By: Diana | @planningplanningplanning

Making New Traditions: I love the idea of gathering with my sister and few friends during this busy holiday season to catch up and decorate some Christmas cookies. So, this year, I started this new tradition for us, to have a delicious excuse to get together every year during the holidays.

Ingredients: 

• 2 ¾ Cups flour
• ½ Tsp Baking powder
• ¼ Tsp Salt
• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter 
• ¾ Cup Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 ½ Tsp Vanilla extract
• Icing and sanding sugar for decorating

Directions: 

1. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Beat butter and sugar and combine. Add egg and vanilla.
3. Gradually add flour mixture until incorporated.
4. Shape dough into 4 discs and roll each between 2 sheets of parchment paper to ¼” thickness. Chill until firm (15 minutes in the freezer or 30 minutes in the fridge). Use cookie cutters to create your desired shapes.
5. Heat oven to 350F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Bake and rotate the sheet halfway through. Cookies should be golden brown (about 10-12 minutes) 
7. Let cool and then decorate with icing and sanding sugar!

 

These recipes really have our sweet tooth going and we can’t wait to try all of them this season. We’d like to give a special shoutout to our squad members for sharing all these recipes! If you are hosting a Cookie Exchange Party, we have a section for it inside our Christmas Planning Classic Extension Pack. Be sure to tag us on Instagram @the_happy_planner if you try any of these recipes and be sure to share your yummy photos!

 

Happy Holidays!